Investing.com -
Investing.com - The yen gained on Friday, reversing early course and the Aussie held flat as investors were on watch for statement from the weekend G20 meeting in Shanghai to set the tone.
Earlier, Japan reported national CPI for January as flat, matching expectations year-on-year and that national core CPI also came in flat, compared to an expected fall of 0.2%.
After the data, USD/JPY changed hands at 112.82, down 0.14%, while AUD/USD traded at 0.7238, up 0.01%.
China reported house prices data showed a 2.5% gain for January, coming after a 1.6% gain last reported year-on-year.
As well, People's Bank of China chief Zhou Xiaochuan on Friday said that underlying fundamentals don't warrant a sustained weakening of the Chinese yuan and added there was room on the policy side to do more.
Earlier in New Zealand, the trade balance for January came in at a surplus of NZ$3.580 billion year-on-year, below the NZ$3.840 billion figure seen
NZD/USD traded at 0.6759, up 0.55%.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was last quoted at 97.24, down 0.21%.
Overnight, the dollar edged lower against the other major currencies in cautious trade on Thursday, after U.S. data painted a mixed picture of the economy and as investors continued to focus on the oil market.
The U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending February 20 increased by 10,000 to 272,000 from the previous week's total of 262,000.
Analysts expected jobless claims to rise by 8,000 to 270,000 last week.
Separately, the U.S. Commerce Department said that total durable goods orders rose by 4.9% last month, blowing past forecasts for a rise of 2.5%.
Core durable goods orders, which exclude volatile transportation items, increased by 1.8% in January, easily surpassing expectations for a gain of 0.2%.
Meanwhile, oil prices held above $31 a barrel but concerns over a supply glut persisted after weekly stockpile data released on Wednesday showed that U.S. oil inventories rose to an all-time high last week.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.